


a latte with cream and honey

by ramenrulz8P



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Barista! Mingyu, M/M, They're cute, coffee shop AU, this is low key a fanfic of a fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 13:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9822668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramenrulz8P/pseuds/ramenrulz8P
Summary: Mingyu spends most of his shifts trying to keep himself awake. Though, there is one customer who manages to make his day.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [averyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/averyblue/gifts).



Spinoff One-Shot for [piece of cake](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1213109/piece-of-cake-seventeen-jeonghan-scoups-jeongcheol) by bluecravatty on AFF

I wrote a fanfic for her fanfic based on exclusive background material. You don't have to read piece of cake to understand this fic but it won't hurt. (I strongly recommend you guys go check it out) ;)

This is my first SVT fic TwT

* * *

The five to nine evening shift was always slow. After the morning rush and the post-lunch rush, there were only a few customers that trickled in through the café doors. Usually, there would be groups of people at the tables, but because of renovations the area was closed off.

Without much to do, Mingyu had almost fallen asleep surrounded by the warmth coming from the coffee machines. He jolted upright when his hand touched the burning hot metal of a steamer. After that shock, it was hard to fall back asleep, so Mingyu leaned on the counter as he faced the door, counting down the minutes to end of his shift.  

The boy sighed at the time. Fifteen minutes until closing and not a soul walked by. It couldn’t be that wrong of him to start closing-up, right?

Mingyu didn’t put much more thought to it as he turned his back to the door and started wiping down the machines. He’d just pulled the lid off of the decaf container when he heard the door chime open.

The freezing winter breeze that followed made the barista’s muscles tighten. Mingyu waited until he’d taken a few deep breaths to calm his annoyance before he turned to tell his new customer that they were closed.

Or at least that’s what he thought he would do.

Mingyu’s resolve to kick out his customer vanished when he laid eyes on him. It was a downward slope from the moment he noticed the guy’s cute nose. Not long after, Mingyu’s mind processed that this guy’s whole face was cute. In fact, this guy just permeated cute. The tall barista wasn’t sure if it was the guy’s oversized sweater or the way he was rubbing his hands together for warmth, but he was sure that felt his heart melting into a puddle.

Maybe he melted a bit of his brain too since he didn’t seem to notice that the cute guy was looking at him, and probably had been looking at him for some time, waiting for him to take his order.

A flush ran across Mingyu’s cheeks and ears as he finally asked, “W-what would you like to drink?”

The stranger’s calm, smiling expression didn’t seem to waver. “Could I have a regular latte with cream and honey, please?”

“Coming right up.” Mingyu scrawled down the order onto the side of the cup before hastily taking the cute guy’s payment. “One thousand five hundred won is your change.”

Butterflies began to fly in Mingyu’s stomach when the cute guy’s hand brushed his as he handed back the change. His face grew warm as the stranger only seemed to smile back again.

Mingyu silently cursed that smile in his head. How could it be so cute and confusing? Was he saying he didn’t mind what happened? Or was he silently mocking him for being clumsy?

The barista repressed the urge to bang his head against a coffee machine and instead just did his job. The order itself was simple enough, but he couldn’t help but notice it was rather unique. It wasn’t unusual to see people order cream or honey with their lattes, but this was probably the first time Mingyu had seen the combination together. He smiled to himself as he stirred in the cream and honey.

He carefully placed a stopper onto the lid before handing it to the cute guy. “Stay warm out there,” Mingyu spoke, greeting him with a smile. Internally, he was freaking out over the fact that he’d chosen ‘Stay warm out there’ as the last thing he’d say.

Again, by some miracle, the cute guy seemed unfazed. He smiled like he had been the whole time as he picked up his cup.

“Thank you. You too.”

His cheery parting words were followed by the chimes of the door closing behind him.

Mingyu rushed to the door and locked it, not wanting a repeat of what had just went down. Only ten minutes had passed and he’d never felt time move so fast but so slow.

The tingly feeling didn’t leave Mingyu even after he’d cleaned up the café and trudged his way home through the cold.  He wondered if he’d see the cute guy again. He certainly hoped so.

He’d thought it was all a dream the day after, but as he was making crème brulee for a class, the cute guy’s order popped up in his head.

A latte with cream and honey.

* * *

Sweat trailed down Mingyu’s forehead as he watched the line grow. Gosh, he missed the night shift. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat down because people kept coming. The tired barista pushed on with sigh, going into auto pilot. Only one more hour, and he was done.

“Next order!” Mingyu called out as he finished typing in a few last numbers to complete the last exchange.

Warm brown eyes greeted him when he looked up and Mingyu did his best to not look as shocked as he felt. The cute guy had returned! And his smile still made Mingyu’s feel like his heart was beating too fast.

The barista caught himself before he stared for too long this time. “What would you like to drink?”

“A latte with cream and honey, please.”

Mingyu bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from smiling. He’d silently hoped it was the cute guy’s regular order.

“What size would you like that?” Mingyu asked as he reached for the cups.

“Large.”

“Can I get your name?” The barista had tried to make the question as nonchalant as possible. Though part of it had to do with his curiosity, the long line behind the cute guy made it company protocol to ask.

“Huh?” The cute guy’s brows furrowed and pink slightly colored his cheeks.

Mingyu was barely able to keep a straight face over how adorably flustered the cute guy seemed by his question. Just thinking about whether or not the cute guy thought he was flirting with him made Mingyu want to laugh. The barista feigned innocence as he said, “For the cup.”

As he held up the cup with a marker at the ready, he watched the cute guy grow even more flustered.

“O-oh,” the cute guy stuttered. He gave an apologetic smile as he answered, “It’s Joshua.”

Joshua.

Mingyu carefully penned down the name, wondering if it was really the cute guy’s name. Judging by the little J key chain that hung off his backpack, it probably was.

All the fatigue Mingyu had felt before seemed to have disappeared as he smiled at Joshua, bidding him goodbye with a simple, “Come again.”

He hadn’t expected Joshua to reply. But the words, “I’ll be sure to,” sent Mingyu’s spirits soaring.

When he had to go back to taking order, it was like the bubble that seemed to cocoon the two of them had popped. The sounds of the coffee machines running and people chattering had returned and Mingyu was back to taking order again - too busy to see if Joshua had left or not.

Mingyu sighed as he hung up his apron at the end of his shift. Today had been a long day and he couldn’t wait to go home and crash. Though he couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the cute guy.

Out of the hundreds or orders Mingyu took that day, out of the hundreds of names, he remembered Joshua’s.

Just as easily as he remembered his order.

* * *

Even though it was finals week and sleep deprived students would stumble in during the late hours, the ongoing renovations in the cafe reduced the number of customers. To Mingyu, it was a blessing and a curse. He had more time to study as he waited for someone to walk in, but it always made him sleepier than usual. He’d lost count of how many times he’d sighed and yawned since his shift began.

Exactly five minutes before Mingyu was going to shut the door, a tired looking Joshua walked in. Mingyu didn’t know if he should be mad or happy, but he couldn’t help but smile seeing the smaller man brush the snow off his coat.

“The regular?” the barista asked as his hands reached for a cup.

Joshua’s gentle, heart-melting smile hit Mingyu like an arrow. “A large please,” then as if he’d suddenly remembered, Joshua added, “Oh, and could I get an espresso with a single shot?”

Mingyu raised a questioning brow but still smiled. The order concerned him slightly. “Sure thing, but I wouldn’t recommend drinking them both in one go.”

Joshua’s eyes crinkled and his cheeks grew high as he laughed, “The espresso isn’t mine.”

Suddenly Mingyu didn’t feel like smiling, but he held his muscles in place. Of course, Joshua was buying it for someone else. Why would he drink TWO coffees all on his own? Mingyu felt like an idiot. A sad, disappointed idiot. The barista only managed to give a half-hearted reply, “That’s good.”

Mingyu wasn’t sure why he felt so upset over something as silly as this. Joshua was a customer. A cute customer. A customer who he hadn’t even had a proper conversation with. A customer who managed to make his day better just by coming through those doors. A customer whose drink order he remembered by heart. But nothing more and nothing less than a customer.

The barista furrowed his brow and absorbed himself in his work, brewing both drinks as fast as he could. When he was done, part of him wanted to be petty and not give Joshua his stoppers, but then Mingyu would worry about the possibility of Joshua burning his hand. What if he had a test tomorrow and his hand was burned because of Mingyu and he failed because of Mingyu and then he’d never come back to the café?

With a sigh, the tall man set the drinks on the pick-up counter and addressed Joshua with a lackluster smile. “Good luck on your finals.”

Joshua, whose face was still red despite having been inside for quite some time, gave a soft and hurried, “You too.”

The smaller man avoided Mingyu’s eyes as he quickly grabbed his drink and rushed out the door.

Mingyu stomped around and whined after there was no way Joshua would return. He sulked as he finally locked the door. The pout didn’t leave his face until he went to go wipe down the counters and noticed that Joshua’s espresso was still there.

Only it had a bright yellow post it attached to the front.

Giddiness rushed through Mingyu’s veins as he picked up the cup and saw a note with a number written scrawled.

_We should hang out sometime.  
P.S. Hope you don’t think this is weird!_

At that moment an inhuman noise came out of Mingyu’s mouth. As he bounced around, some coffee spilled from the ventilation hole in the lid. The hot liquid burned the back of his palm, but Mingyu was so elated he didn’t seem to care.

He couldn’t believe this note was real. Even when he showed it to his friends the next day, he was still in disbelief.

Seungcheol-hyung congratulated by ruffling his hair and Vernon gave him a high-five. But Wonwoo-hyung was the only one who questioned him.

Wonwoo finished a spoonful of rice before looking Mingyu dead in the eyes, “Have you texted him yet?”

The boy’s eyes widened with fear, “Uh. No…”

“Get on it, bro!” Vernon laughed as he nudged Mingyu’s arm.

“That poor guy has already been waiting over twelve hours for you to reply,” Seungcheol said, shaking his head as he picked one of the fries off Mingyu’s tray.

Mingyu put his face in his hands. “Oh my god… I’m terrible.” He looked up with a horrified expression. “He probably hates me… Or thinks I hate him.”

“We all know that’s not true. You were gushing about this guy for two whole weeks,” Wonwoo interjected.

“Just message him,” Seungcheol stated like it was obvious and easy, which for him it probably was.

But Mingyu stared at the number in his hands and cried out, “What do I even say?!”

“Hey, it’s Mingyu. You know the hot barista from the café that secretly checks you out from over the counter.”

Mingyu smacked Vernon’s arm and the younger boy just kept laughing.

“Take your time to say what you think is right. If he’s worth your time, he’ll be understanding. Just don’t wait too long,” Wonwoo dropped his words of wisdom and gave Mingyu the smallest hint of an encouraging smile.

Mingyu almost reached over the table and hugged Wonwoo, but a phone call took the elder boy from the table. So while Wonwoo went to take his call, Mingyu stared at the note in his hands and tried to think of a reply, but it was pretty hard to do with Seungcheol and Vernon trying to force each other to drink some weird mixture of kimchi and sikhye*.

On his way home, Mingyu managed to save the number on his phone at least, but he still had a hard time coming up with a message. He’d started typing and deleted it about twenty times before he gave up and just decided to send Joshua everything he wanted to say.

**Mingyu:**

_Hi! ^_^ This is Mingyu from the café. Thanks for the espresso the other day. I just wanted to let you know that I don’t think that was weird. It’s actually really cute. I’m super glad you gave it to me. I’m kinda bad at things like this so I wasn’t sure how to reply to you but I would love to hang out sometime._

Not even two minutes later Mingyu saw a typing bubble appear on his screen.

**Joshua:**

_I’m so glad you replied! I was worried I might have freaked you out… My last final is Friday afternoon and I’m free in the evening._

**Mingyu:**

_Friday. 7:30. I’ll meet you at the café?_

**Joshua:**

_It’s a date ;)_

Mingyu’s heart was beating so fast he could hear his pulse.  He couldn’t believe he’d done that and actually succeeded. The boy rolled around in his bed, messing up the sheets but he couldn’t care less.

He had a date on Friday.

* * *

“Was it alright to take a barista on a date at a café?” Joshua asked as he sipped his latte from the seat across Mingyu’s.

“I love coffee and I love the atmosphere,” Mingyu explained with the shrug. He attacked the mousse cake he’d bought for the two of them before continuing. “How was your final?”

Joshua groaned, slumping over. “Don’t ask, please.”

Mingyu stuck out his lower lip in sympathy as he placed a hand over Joshua’s. “Do you want to take the scenic route back to your dorm?”

Joshua gave a bashful smile and nodded.

As they walked back to Joshua’s dorm, Mingyu almost drew enough courage to take Joshua’s hand. But they’d reached their destination faster than Mingyu had expected.

They stood awkwardly in front of the steps that led inside, both trying to hold off the inevitable end to their date.

“I had fun today,” Joshua finally said. “Let’s do this again some other time.”

Mingyu nodded, “Definitely.”

“Goodnight,” Joshua said, not moving an inch from where he stood.

“Goodnight,” Mingyu replied, not wanting to leave.

It wasn’t until the wind picked up that, Mingyu finally moved. Joshua was shivering and Mingyu had a feeling he would get sick if he stayed out any longer. Reluctantly, the barista made his first step away from Joshua and slowly began to walk way.

“Wait!” Joshua’s voice rang out, and Mingyu halted.

Footsteps crunched in the snow and Mingyu turned to just in time to be pulled downwards. He barely had time to think before he felt cold, silky lips press against his.

Mingyu’s mind had stopped computing when Joshua pulled back. The older boy let go of his collar and smiled up at him.

“A proper goodbye for a wonderful first date,” Joshua explained breathily.

Mingyu just nodded because words were hard to process. Joshua kept smiling up at him for a few seconds before finally heading indoors.

That night Mingyu wasn’t exactly able to recall how he made it home. He was still internally malfunctioning over the taste of latte mixed with cream and honey. 

* * *

 

THE END

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you guys think so please leave a comment <3 Also if you want some more SVT fluff please go check out [bluecravatty on AFF](http://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view_author_stories/1438829/L)

 

 


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